Happy New Year

As another year comes to an end, a new year begins and we all take a look back and reflect on the last 365 days. So much has happened, so much has gone on. So many new things in life. There has been pain, there has been heartache, there has been loss. To many times we have heard whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger and while in the midst of pain this seems stupid and dumb to say, hind sight is 20/20 in that this is the truth and we grow as a result of it. I usually make a New Year's resolution. This year I will not be making one. This year I only hope that the pain and loss does not linger for those who experienced it, that true joy touches everyone's heart, that we are truly thankful for what we have and where we are in our lives, and that 2012 is a more profitable and enjoyable year. Where the past is in the past, we live in the here and now and we plan for all that the future can bring us. Join me in raising a glass (non-alcoholic of course) to 2012. Happy New Year everyone!!!

I Got The Dress....... Woo Hoo!!!

Yeah! My dress from David's Bridal came in. I picked it up today and tried it on. Looks good, feels good, we are good to go. Snapped a couple of shots in it trying it on just to have for posterity. I want to get to next weekend and be able to wear the dress at the awards banquet for my company but over the next week to week and a half we are on baby alert. Day by day at best. We will have to wait and see how I feel Saturday afternoon and go from there. Yes, I do recognize that I look like a gigantic blueberry but even with my baby bump I feel like a princess.

The Baby Pool

So my Dr. is adamant about me delivering early. He doesn't think I will get to the 26th of January. He feels more like the 11th of January will be my due date. That doesn't leave me with much time and it also doesn't bode well for the Type A personality I am with the OCD. I need to know, it needs to be scheduled and I need to be prepared. So to de-stress (because I am so all about that right now), I took up a baby pool at the office. Winner gets a Starbucks card. Everyone has chosen a date. So far Shelly and Rosie are out. Thanks guys for thinking of me but I don't think I would deliver 4 weeks early. Next up is Danny and Brandi. Sorry guys, don't think I will deliver New Year's weekend though great idea. I would love to actually have a New Year's baby- one of the 1st one's born into the New Year so that she would always have a good story to tell- but still no. I am curious to see what happens next week. I am beginning to think that Mycah, Leslie, Kathy and June might be a lot closer than they think to the winning date. I will keep all of you posted on my blog as best as possible as things go down. Stay tuned.

Ommmmmmm, Ommmmmmmmm

I have to give a huge shout out to my Sister-In-Law Rachel and her husband Rick for the Christmas gift they gave me. Rick was my Kris Kringle for Christmas and they got me a gift certificate to Massage Envy for a 90 minute prenatal massage. OMG!!!!!!!!! I sooooo took advantage of that last night after work. I had the cutest little massage therapist. Her name was Lucy and she was a tiny little Asian woman with a soft voice. Very grandma-esque and she was so ginger with me and my body. 90 minutes later I was mush! I felt lighter than air and I think I actually floated out of the spa. No stress, no tension, no drama, and definitely no knots or kinks. Ahhhhhh. This will go down in the history books as THE best gift ever, that I have gotten. No words can begin to express how thankful I am. Wow, to feel like a whole woman again. It's just amazing how you carry all of that crud around with you on your shoulders, your back and neck and aren't even aware of it until it actually starts to hurt. This was awesome. Now I feel like I am totally qualified and prepared to get in that hospital and birth this baby. Watch out world, here comes "Super Mom".

The Waiting Game

Welcome to the "Waiting Game", where all moms play, all moms win the jackpot but no one knows when the game begins. Sounds like a terrible B rated game show on T.V. And I have just entered to be a contestant. My due date is January 26th. Dr. says he thinks the baby will be here by the 11th. I am finishing off this week at work (1 more day to go I am off on Friday) and then on-call all next week depending upon how I am feeling. I just have to put the diaper bag, Dan's and my hospital bag and my birthing ball in the car and sit and wait until Sophia gets here. I have to tell you the "Waiting Game" is no fun to play that is for sure. Waiting for a mucus plug, waiting for water to break, waiting for more contractions closer together and far worse on the pain scale. Sounds like those terrible side effects that they talk about on those drug commercials: may cause blindness, may cause erectile dysfunction, can cause heart attack, you can loose a limb, may kill you, may make you crazy, may make you bark like a dog when the door bell rings, etc. etc. etc. Jeesh!!!!

And then from my friends who have delivered before, "It only gets worse from here, Hon". Apparently the Dr.'s don't tell you everything in your regular visits and want it to be a "surprise" once you go into labor about what exactly to expect: vaginal vs. Cesarean, I.V. Drugs vs. epidural, hours upon days of labor, delivery of baby "BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE" delivery of the placenta (and by the way the contractions don't stop till after the placenta is out....lovely), "To episiotomy or not to episiotomy, that is the question" (this one comes with stitches either way...ouch!), breastfeed or no breastfeed (and if you do breastfeed, most likely the baby wont latch on so you think you are doing it wrong and are starving your kid), the dreaded Epi bottle and cold packs (girls you know what this is for), and on and on. Yup I am a soldier. I signed up and enlisted for the one thing guys can't do, have babies. I got little training, killed my body, carbo loaded for the journey, went through the obstacle courses of baby stores, signed my life over when I pre-registered at the hospital, and now its time to bring on the war.

This is my bottle, there are other bottles like it, but this one is mine!

Wow, What A Week. Lots To Talk About....

So I left after work on Wednesday of last week to go to my in-laws house for 5 days of vacation and Christmas R & R. So much to do, so many people to see and in such little time.

I got a chance to see my brother-in-law who flew in from Texas, my sister-in-law and her son who flew in from Northern California, my Uncle Jeff who flew in from Medford, Oregon and even got to see the usual suspects: Uncle Jim, Cousin Aliar and one of her kids Ava, Karl and Jackie and Lauren and her new hubbie Jon. It was a great 5 days.

My mother-in-law kidnapped me and my sister-in-law on Thursday morning and took us for manis and pedis. Ahhhhhhhh, feels good.

We celebrated Christmas with some of my father-in-laws family, Christmas with Dan's immediate family, Christmas with my immediate family and Christmas with my dads side of the family. Are you exhausted yet. Keep reading not done yet........

We celebrated Dan's 39th birthday on Friday (Happy B-Day Baby!), did some before and after Christmas shopping and still had time for our LeBlanc family tradition every year....... TAMALE MAKING!!! Yup, that's right, from scratch: masa, hojos, pulled pork and chili sauce, mashed, wrapped, tucked, steamed and some eaten. Yummy! This has got to be one of my favorite family traditions. It really does bring everyone together.

Wait, did I leave anything out............................

Homemade Mole making Wednesday night, home made lasagna making Thursday night and a perfect roasted turkey with all the Christmas trimmings on Sunday night, plus a trip to the movies to see Sherlock Holmes on Christmas day. Never done that before. It was kind of cool. Would like to check that out again next year. It was a nice break from all of the other craziness.

Wow, what a summary. Feels like I had a book report due on what I did over Christmas break. Ahhhhh, and now to relax until my little bundle of pinkness gets here. Time to put the feet up, grab a cup of tea and chill.

Dr.'s Visit Today

I finally got a chance to visit with the other Dr. in the practice that I go to. She is very nice. Great bedside manner and definitely feels like your mom or grandmother relationship. She looked at my charts and checked my test this morning and said all is good. No Sodium in the urinalysis, the Strep B test came out negative, my blood pressure is great, the baby's heart rate is perfect, I have gained 2 pounds since last week Dr.'s appt, and my fundus has grown- baby is getting bigger. We talked more about my swollen hands, ankles and feet. She said I was surprisingly less swollen than most women this far along in pregnancy. She said to rest my feet when I can, drink lots of fluids, stay away from ham and other salty cured meats, watch my salt intake, and get myself a good pair of support hose. Wow, I think I just stepped off the fashion train into Grandma Town! Yikes. But a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do. Support hose here we come. Fashionable or not, gotta wear them to stay comfortable and relieve some of the swelling.

Today is my last day of work for this week then 5 days of Christmas Vacation at the in-laws. Gonna relax, put my feet up and enjoy. Not to mention celebrate Christmas 3 times, make tamales and celebrate Dan's b-day on Friday. Phew! A woman's work is never done. Maybe I can do all of this from the couch laying down??????? Hmmmmmmmmm.

The Pregnant Woman & The Broken Couch (A Sad Story)

This is the sad story of a pregnant woman who sat on a couch and broke it.

When I was at my moms house on Saturday, after dinner was finished, I took the chance on hitting the couch for some R & R and to put my feet up. My mom has a regular couch and a 2 seater love seat in her living room. I sat in the 2 seater and the seats fold out to put your feet up, so I did. What happened afterwards was by no means my fault, intentional or malicious. (Insert lawyer ad copy, fine print and syntax here)

When I went to get up I couldn't close the recliner seat. So I wiggled my way out of the couch and stood up. I tried kicking the foot rest a couple of times so it would pop back into place and lock itself in. To no avail. My dad came over and gave it a couple of good kicks too, but the foot rest would not close up and lock in place. It took my dad and my cousin Mark to turn over the couch, close the foot rest up and then hog tie it in place so that it wouldn't re-open.

How embarrassing! Sorry Mom & Dad. Not intentional. I blame it on Sophia. It is all her fault. She did it. LOL I will have to make sure I tell her this little story when she is older. Sounds like she will owe Grandma Rosemary and Grandpa John a new couch!

So Swollen and In Pain

So I swelled up and started really retaining water on Saturday after being on my feet most of the day and eating what was one of the most prefect meals made by my soon to be chef sister Kimberly. Too much salt, too much standing, not enough water. I haven't un-swelled yet. A little worried as it should fluctuate and go down and it hasn't. Called to Dr. and they want to see me tomorrow morning real quick to run some tests to make sure that it is not preclampsia. If it is regular swelling then maybe they will have some good advice for me over the next 5 days while I am off of work and on vacation for Christmas.

I don't mind my hands and cankles so much. I can deal with them. But my right foot is significantly more swollen than my left. It is flat, rectangular with no arch and I have stay puffed marshmallows for toes. It's not pretty. Staying off of them and drinking more water doesn't seem to help either. I know I am in the home stretch. 2-3 more weeks to go and that swelling is normal. I really haven;t had any until Saturday and it didn't come on gradually. It was a ll of a sudden and then it stayed so you can imagine my concern to make sure that it isn't something important or dire.

Extended Family Christmas with Dan's Family

It was a busy weekend as you can tell. Dan and I went over to his parents house on Sunday morning and spent some time with them and got some last minute Christmas shopping done. We then went to his Aunt Corey an Uncle Jim's house in Camarillo and had finger foods and celebrated their extended family Christmas. Everyone contributed and brought something to nibble on so we were able to munch all night long and still fill up. We had meatballs and cocktail wieners, sweet potato casserole, sausages, cheese, grapes, different types of salamis and meats, nuts and candies, tamales and chili rellenos, chicken wings, stuffed mushrooms, hot apple cider and hot butter rum punch. It was very traditional Christmas-ey. Santa even came by for a visit. He nibbled a little, read to the children and then let us sit on his lap and remind him what we wanted for Christmas to make sure we got exactly what we wanted. I sat on Santa's lap and told him I didn't want anything for Christmas but that if he could put in a call to the big guy upstairs I would like to ask that Sophia is safe and healthy when she is born in the new year. Santa promised!!!!! He even took pictures with me. How cute. Sophia is not even here yet and she already has her first photos with Santa. Looking forward to showing her them come next year when she is better able to understand them.

Extended Family Christmas At My Moms

On Saturday Dan and I went to my mom's house for the extended family Christmas we do every year the weekend before Christmas. It was great. Everyone was there. We had some killer appetizers and dinner was so special. My sister Kim had just aced her culinary school finals and wanted to put them to good use. She made chicken Marsala, beef tenderloin trussed with mushrooms and goat cheese, orange marmalade carrots, green bean shallots, Asian pear and goat cheese salad plus so much more. I ate myself into a nap! LOL It was great. We did our normal white elephant gift exchange and I got this nifty snack dispenser.

Can't wait to bring it to work and share it with my team. We can always use a snack pick me up during the day. It will be perfect and it will definitely come in handy. Dessert was decadent. German chocolate cake, cheesecake, petit fours, checkerboard cake, ice cream, bon bons, dutch apple pie, apple cranberry tart, the list just keeps getting longer. And they were so delicious. Yummy. I was so full I slept the whole way home. Yikes. Give the pregnant woman some food, maybe we can knock her out and cow tip her. LOL

Company Christmas Luncheon

This past Friday we had our Company Christmas Luncheon. A 1/2 day paid as a full day, lunch catered by Corner Bakery, free dress, and a white elephant gift exchange plus board games for after. We all had a blast.

Until we got to the white elephant gift exchange. Then it was like steal from the pregnant lady she wont care! It sucked. However, thanks to the craftiness of 2 of my colleagues Mycah and Brandi, we were able to steal back the beloved tea cups and saucers I had originally won! Yeah, go team!!! It was a good time had by ll and when it was all done and over with, we played "I've never". It's a game where you say something you have never done before and if someone else in the circle has done it they have to put down 1 of their 5 fingers until no fingers are left and they are out of the game. It was pretty cool I had never played it before and it gave me a chance to learn more about my colleagues and team mates. Looking forward to playing that game again with other friends and passing on the fun.

My Growing Belly Bump......

Although we were 6 weeks plus pregnant and missed the 1st 2 months of our pregnancy in belly bump photos, not that I would have been showing anyways, here is a quick snap shot of my growing child in utero. 2 more rounds of photos to take. 1 between Christmas and New Years and another around the 2nd week of January if Sophia has not made her debut yet. Enjoy!

Another Successful Dr.'s Visit

The Dr. was quite pleased with everything yesterday at my 2 week check up. He said Sophia is weighing in well over 5 pounds now and her heartbeat has started to slow down since she is getting bigger and all of the organs are now starting to work properly and in a timely fashion, The funny part was he couldn't figure out what was her head and her butt. He kept pushing and checking and poking and got more and more confused. He then looked up at me and said, "Are you having a contraction right now?" and I said yes. He said that would explain why my belly was so tight and why it was making it difficult for him to pinpoint which bulge was what. He decided to do a vaginal inspection and sure enough he said she was head down and ready to go. He said I didn't have much room left down there and wanted to know if I was done with work already. I said no way. I still have 6 more weeks to go, maybe 4 if she comes early. You should have seen the look on his face!!!!! It was like a bobble head doll with huge bulging puppy eyes!!!!! He said oh, ok you sure???? I said why. He said because she may be here by then already. Holy cow!!! If I leave for maternity leave 2 weeks before my due date and he seems to think she will be here before that, she would be 3-4 weeks early. No way!!! Dan is giddy. He thinks Sophia will be a December baby, so does my Mother-In-Law. With this new info I think she will be a new year baby. My Father-In-Law is hoping for a 2011 tax credit for us. LOL We will see. Anyone up for a baby pool on birth date????

41 Days & Counting......

Well what can I say..... 41 days and counting and I feel huge. I am more tired than I was in my 1st trimester, I feel like I weigh a ton of bricks, sleeping a thing of the past, my bladder is no longer my own, and every day I get more Braxton-Hicks. I am starting to get headaches now and have never been a headache person prior to this. It is quite a strange feeling. My feet and ankles swell every day mid afternoon and naps and putting my feet up are a daily requirement.

Last night I just couldn't do it. 8 o'clock rolled around, I finished dinner, took a shower and went straight to bed. Too much of the goings-on from the day for me to handle. 2 more days to the weekend.....that is the mantra I am holding onto right now. Big weekend though. Extended family Christmas at my moms house Saturday and extended family Christmas at Dan's Aunt and Uncle's house on Sunday. I have a little more Christmas shopping to do and am hoping to get it done by tomorrow night and Saturday morning. This Preggo doesn't want to have to fight the shopping traffic next week. I might get trampled, maced, pepper sprayed or worse shot given all that has happened this year with Holiday shopping.

Tomorrow looks to be a fun day. 1/2 day at work but paid for a full day, company corporate Christmas Luncheon at noon, white elephant gift exchange and then I am taking my staff to the movies right after the luncheon. Left over Christmas shopping after that and then I should be ready to collapse. But before all of that happens, I have a Dr.'s appt. today at 4pm. Nothing special just the normal check up to make sure we are smooth sailing.

Week 32: An Unscheduled Ultrasound (It's A Good Thing!!!)

I am now in week 32. 8 more weeks to go Whoopie!!! 54 days and counting. First things first..... Congrats to my friend Wendy Pridgen who was induced this morning. Good Luck sister! Also, Congrats to my friend Sheila Kercher who headed off to the hospital yesterday, welcome to your blue bundle of joy!!! Now on to today's Dr.'s appt. This is my regularly schedule 32 week appointment. Nothing special except I wanted to see Sophia one more time before she arrived on an ultrasound. Dr. said we didn't have any additional ultrasounds scheduled. They made and exception and since the machines were free this afternoon they let me have one last quick peak.

The International Printing Museum in Carson, CA

Dan and I had a fabulous time at the Int'l Printing Museum in Carson on Saturday. http://www.printmuseum.org/ It was a ton of fun. This was their Fuzywig celebration for the Holidays. They turned on all of their printing machines, had carolers, everyone was dressed in period costumes, they had a traditional English lunch of Bangers, gingerbread and cider and they had a 50 minute condensed version of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol play for us to watch as well. We got a chance to use machines from the 1700's and 1800's to print Victorian Era Christmas cards, a Bah HumBug! sign for Dan (Hee, Hee), an old fashioned paper Christmas ornament and I even got the chance to print out a copy of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" on a piece of parchment scroll paper that I can hang. Wow, it was awesome seeing our history, culture, engineering and advent of progress over hundreds of years. Really makes you thankful for your laptop LOL.

Got A Dress....... But With A Hitch

So I blew away the land speed record last night for walking into a Bridal Shop, picking out a dress, ordering it and paying for it. Wait for it, ....................Wait for it, .......................... 10 whole whopping minutes!!!!!! Dun Duh Duh Duh!!!! I couldn't believe it. I was smart. I went on line looked at the dresses and chose the ones that I thought would be good on my body frame. We got there, pulled them off the rack in other colors, tried them on and made a choice. Size 10 for now, alterations to be made later (but only to the hem line, it is a long flowing dress with plenty of room now and will be very Grecian looking later when it lays in layers later. It is just about 5 inches too long for right now). We ordered it in the Horizon color for the wedding and paid. It was awesome. Until we went to leave and I turned around to ask when it would be here. FEBRUARY 2ND 2012!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So not gonna work for the awards banquet I have on January 7th. What's a pregnant girl to do?????????? I asked them to track it and figure it out. They are going to put a rush on it and see but I will be made, MADE of all things. I thought they said they were discontinuing this color. I am so confused. And then it is coming from Pennsylvania. Yikes! At least it will be good for the wedding in June.

Now, to find something to wear just in case for the banquet in January. Otherwise this preggers is going in the buff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL

Bridesmaids Dress Shopping.....

I am proud to say that I am a Bridesmaid in my best friend, Vanessa's wedding next June. I am so looking forward to it. Not much time after baby gets here to work off the baby weight but I will do it to look good and fit into my dress. Speaking of dress, unfortunately they have discontinued the color Vanessa chose for her Bridesmaid's dresses and we are all having to run out this month and buy them super early so that we have them. Um, Houston, we have a problem!!!! I am 8 months pregnant, not post baby size and I don't know what will fit later on. Uh-Oh! So Vanessa is taking me out tonight to David's Bridal and we are checking out the different styles that I have looked into. I have decided to find a dress in a size that will fit me now and over the next 6 weeks (I have an awards banquet for my company to go to and it is formal- perfect timing!!!). Then after the baby weight comes off I can just have it altered. Should be a slam dunk if all goes right. Keep your fingers crossed.

Bring On The Braxton-Hicks.....

I had my first 2 official, "stop me in my tracks", "that's new", Braxton-Hicks contractions yesterday. One before lunch and one late afternoon. Wow, totally different from the little cramping that has been going on the past 3 weeks. This means I am in the home stretch. I can't wait. Well, yes, yes I can. 6 more weeks if she comes early, 7 more weeks if she comes on time. I am currently in week 33. I am more tired than I have been before this point in time. I am looking forward to the upcoming Holidays and time spent relaxing in the company of my family and friends (with my feet up of course). More than anything I look forward to all of the Christmas music and smells, food and laughter. I guess you can say I am in the nesting phase now and I just want to surround myself with those I love and enjoy what life has to offer. No more hustle an bustle. No more drama. No more running around just sheer serenity. THAT, I am so ready for!

Belly Bump Pics For November

Took belly bump pics before we left on Friday for Arizona. Wow! My face has swollen so much. I can't wear my wedding rings at all and so I am wearing them around my neck now and my belly is gi-normous! I can really tell that I am in the home stretch. Take a look and see what you think. I am sure you will all agree.

Last Official Road Trip: AZ and Snow?????!!!!!!!!

Yup that's right, my girlfriend Sara and I took off to Arizona on Friday to visit a friend of ours, Kat, in Arizona. This was my last official road trip that I am allowed to take given I am in the home stretch with the pregnancy. We had a blast. 6 hours and change there, 6 hours and change back. Friday night through Sunday afternoon. We crashed a wedding reception and ate sandwiches (long story), got snowed on (it was TOTALLY COOL!!!!!), had sushi (no I didn't eat the raw stuff, all of mine was cooked), hung out at a bar (super weird being the token pregnant girl in the room toting a coca-cola glass filled with a shirley temple), got to go to a totally cool art and crafts festival (very eclectic, I wanted to buy ALL of the jewelry) and then had brunch at Olive and Ivy (if you ever go to Scottsdale by the big mall you have got to go here and order the Egg Sandwich. I kid you not it was like Manna from Heaven!!!!). Then home by 7pm on Sunday night to see my Hubbie and my Doggie. Great fun had by all. Good times, good times. Not tired at all surprisingly. I feel refreshed and invigorated. I think this was just what the Dr. ordered.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Lots to talk about. A lot of things going on in the past 4 days. Too much to write in one blog. Multiple entries to day.

Last Thursday I had a baby Dr. appt. at 2pm. So far I have gained 27pounds during the pregnancy and am doing really well. Dr. says Sophia is a moose. She is 4.7 pounds right now and will gain another 1/2 pound to a pound each week for the next 6-8 weeks. Making her 8-9 pounds at birth. 6 weeks if she comes the potential 2 weeks early or 8 weeks if she comes right on time. I had an ultrasound and got to see her one last time before she makes her debut. She has the absolute biggest cheeks in the entire world. The nurses were laughing at her ultrasound pics because she actually has a button nose and beady eyes with these 2 Hubba Bubba bubbles attached to each side of her face. She looks very alien with a Homer Simpson oval head and just cheeks.

I have been having trouble sleeping at night but not for the reasons you would think. I have been waking up in the middle of the night having a hard time breathing. I dont have asthma and any other lung issues. I talked more to the Dr. about this and he says it is anxiety attacks in the middle of the night while I am sleeping because my subconscious is letting loose from the day. Great!!! So trying not to stress.

Called the "Moms" after the Dr.'s appt. to talk cheeks. My mom says all of us girls were 7.2, 7.6, 8.0 when we were born. No cheeks unfortunately. So when I spoke to my Mother-In-Law she laughed. "Cheeks, of yes, all 3 kids were all cheeks at birth". Apparently they all take after Fred. I will be seeing Dan's baby book over Christmas to see the "evidence" of this to see what Sophia will be looking like on her special day. Really excited, never seen Dan's baby book before. Should be fun............ and embarrassing for him!!!!! LOL